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About Justin Carter - RotoBaller
Justin Carter is PhD candidate in creative writing at the University of North Texas. He writes about the NFL, NBA, and the WNBA here on RotoBaller. If he's not watching those things, he's either teaching college English or watching NASCAR.
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Justin Carter - RotoBaller has written 1353 articles so far, you can find them below.
Tyrod Taylor (QB, BUF) - Week 13 Waiver Wire Adds
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team/Two-QB Leagues OWNED IN: 49% of Yahoo! Leagues ANALYSIS: After a one-week absence from the starting lineup as the Bills turned to rookie Nathan Peterman (who threw five interceptions before being benched), Tyrod Taylor returned for Week 12. Taylor didn't throw for many yards in Buffalo's 16-10 win over the Chiefs, but he... Read More
Cordarelle Patterson (WR, OAK) - Week 13 Waiver Wire Adds
BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 4% of Yahoo! Leagues ANALYSIS: Cordarelle Patterson finds himself thrust into a key role in Oakland's passing attack after Amari Cooper left Week 12's game with both a concussion and sprained ankle while Michael Crabtree left it in a flurry of punches and penalty flags that resulted in a... Read More
Deeper Sleepers for Standard Fantasy Football Leagues (Week 13)
Another week of football in the books! Sunday's games felt a little more...boring?...than usual, but that's probably because there were less of them. I did get treated to something nice, though, in the second slate of games, when my friend with RedZone's new television arrived and we were able to actually see what was happening... Read More
Austin Ekeler (RB, LAC) - Week 13 Waiver Wire Adds
BALLER MOVE: Add in All PPR Leagues OWNED IN: 34% of Yahoo! Leagues ANALYSIS: Austin Ekeler had his worst game of the month on Thanksgiving against the Cowboys. His stat-line? Six carries for 15 yards, and three catches for 55. Ekeler has carved out a role in the Chargers offense as a change-of-pace back and a receiving threat... Read More
Playoffs Strategy - Rookies Who Are Ready To Rock
It is hard--very hard--to trust your fantasy season to an unproven rookie late in the season. Early in the year? Whatever-anything goes! That first-round wide receiver playing on a run-first team? Hey, it's Week 2, so I'll take the risk! But by Week 12? The level of trust you have to show at this point... Read More
10 Lineup Busts and Avoids for Week 12
Another year of Thanksgiving games has come and gone, and I want to go on a quick rant that is only tangentially related to fantasy football, and isn't at all related to the actual premise of this column: the Dish Network and CBS dispute. I was invited to a friend's family Thanksgiving and went with... Read More
Deeper Sleepers for Standard Leagues (Week 12)
We've reached the point where some leagues are wrapping up their regular seasons, which means some of us are under immense pressure in Week 12 to win our games. There are two ways of thinking that I subscribe to at various times and for various reasons. If my team has been pretty solid all year... Read More
10 Lineup Busts and Avoids for Week 11
I planned on writing up a long introduction about this current fantasy football season, but I had computer issues the entire time I was working on this week's column, so something had to suffer due to time constraints. I don't think it would be a good idea to let the actual bust picks suffer, so... Read More
Deeper Sleepers for Standard Leagues (Week 11)
There's a surprising amount of players I considered for this list this week--especially at the running back position, where there were a lot of players whose ownership was under 20% but who ended up with five or more carries this week. This is anecdotal, but it felt like running backs were more active this week than... Read More
10 Lineup Busts and Avoids for Week 10
We're getting closer to the end of the season--we've reached the double-digit weeks now!--which means that the decisions you make become amplified. That can be good if you make some good choices, but it can also come back to bite you if you make some bad ones. Here at Rotoballer, we want to give you... Read More
A Fantasy Streamer's Guide to the Playoffs
It's almost time, y'all: the fantasy football playoffs are just around the corner. Maybe you've already secured your way into them, or maybe you're still fighting for that final spot, or maybe you are having a terrible year but your league has a prize for winning the loser's bracket and you are PUMPED about trying... Read More
Deeper Sleepers for Standard Leagues (Week 10)
Even when you think you've got this fantasy football thing figured out, it turns out you don't. Last week, for example, I originally put Corey Clement on this list--I liked how he'd been looking and his usage was trending upwards. But then the Eagles traded for Jay Ajayi and I went back into the article... Read More
10 Lineup Busts and Avoids for Week 9
The Houston Astros won the World Series on Wednesday night. The Houston Texans lost Deshaun Watson for the rest of the season to a torn ACL during practice on Thursday. Houston sports--something good, then something bad. The Watson injury is a big one in terms of its fantasy impact, because Watson was playing not just... Read More
Deeper Sleepers for Standard Leagues (Week 9)
As I write this, it is Monday evening and I am trying not to fall asleep after only getting about five hours of sleep last night--and after being awake all of yesterday. I don't miss NFL football unless I have to, so I woke up for the Browns/Vikings London game and watched the first half... Read More
10 Lineup Busts and Avoids for Week 8
There a lot of bye weeks (six!) this week, which means you have a lot more restrictions when building a lineup. I'll try to reflect that in this week's column by digging a little dip deeper on some of the bust picks, looking at some under-the-radar players who should stay under that radar. It's hard... Read More
Deeper Sleepers for Standard Leagues (Week 8)
If you read this list last week and thought Justin, how dare you suggest I pick Josh McCown up. I will never read you again, then...well, in that scenario you likely aren't actually reading this. But McCown was fifth among QBs in scoring for the week going into Monday night and he gets Atlanta in Week... Read More
10 Lineup Busts and Avoids for Week 7
I'm trying a new approach this week with this column, which is that the introductory paragraphs and the recap of last week's games are going to be combined. But don't worry! That just means I'll be writing more about how good/bad last week's bust picks were! It makes more sense to blabber on about that... Read More
Deeper Sleepers for Standard Leagues (Week 7)
Last week I mentioned Brian Hoyer as a good streaming option, which quickly looked like a bad call when Hoyer was benched for C.J. Beathard. But hey--the 49ers offense looks surprisingly not terrible, so maybe I just had the wrong quarterback penciled in! But seriously, I don't know what to think about San Francisco--every week... Read More
10 Lineup Busts and Avoids for Week 6
It's Week 6. The Kansas City Chiefs are undefeated, the Patriots have looked average at many points, and the Houston Texans are suddenly an offensive oriented team. The NFL, y'all, where things change so fast. Case in point: Amari Cooper would have been cut already if his name wasn't Amari Cooper in all your fantasy... Read More
Deeper Sleepers for Standard Leagues (Week 6)
Another week, another spate of injuries. This week was headlined (at least from a fantasy perspective) by Odell Beckham Jr., who looks to be out for the rest of the season. After five weeks, two consensus round one picks--Beckham and David Johnson--have gone down to serious injuries. The Giants will replace Beckham with...hmm, I don't... Read More
Top 10 Fantasy Football Lineup Busts - Week 5
Some anecdotes from my home league that illustrate some thought processes about a few of last week's bust picks: Two weeks ago, two teams in my league made a trade: Dez Bryant for Amari Cooper. This was before Cooper stopped existing the past two weeks and I was, at the time, surprised someone would give up... Read More
Deeper Sleepers for Standard Leagues (Week 5)
Waking up early the past two weeks for the London games has left me too drained from football to watch the Sunday night games all the way to the end--once the Seahawks opened the floodgates, I went to sleep. In theory, I like the idea of twelve-plus hours of football, but there's a reason I've... Read More
Top 10 Fantasy Football Lineup Busts - Week 4
We're about to reach the quarter-mark of the 2017 NFL season and the fantasy football picture still feels unsettled. For example: is Jordan Howard going to live up to his ADP? Uhh, maybe! Were Brandin Cooks' first two weeks of usage a fluke and this is what we get moving foward? Hmm, I don't know!... Read More
Deeper Sleepers for Standard Fantasy Football Leagues (Week 4)
Another week has gone by and we finally--FINALLY--got one of those monster weeks where lots of players go off. ESPN's Bill Barnwell ranked the 1:00 pm games as the seventh-most exciting slate of games since the introduction of the RedZone Channel in 2009. There were a lot of high scores and a lot of big... Read More
Top 10 Fantasy Lineup Busts - Week 3
Another week in the NFL and another disappointing fantasy performance by [insert the name of someone or, more likely, someones from your lineup here]. I saw on Reddit earlier that there's only been 11 100-yard receiving games through two weeks after there were 30 last season, so it's not just you who's thinking that something... Read More
Deeper Sleepers for Standard Fantasy Football Leagues (Week 3)
Another week, another top player at his position with a serious injury. This time it's Carolina tight end Greg Olsen, who was expected to be a top-five TE this season. There were also plenty of other injuries--Corey Coleman, Jimmy Graham, Jordan Howard (who was in a sling after the game after dealing with shoulder issues... Read More
Top 10 Fantasy Football Lineup Busts: Week 2
Last week in this column I made this little joke: "if I tell you to bench David Johnson, you have my permission to send me mean Tweets about it." Well--ugh. As a Johnson owner in my home league and someone who went light on drafting RBs after picking Johnson and Jordan Howard early, things look bleak.... Read More
Injury Impact - Allen Robinson Out for the 2017 Season
Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Allen Robinson will miss the rest of the 2017 season after tearing his ACL in the Jaguars Week 1 win against the Houston Texans. Robinson's absence from Jacksonville's lineups and from your fantasy lineups will change the way both games have to be played. You likely grabbed Robinson as a high-upside... Read More
Deeper Sleepers for Standard Leagues (Week 2)
Well, this week happened, didn't it? There were some really bad performances by some NFL teams--hi Cincinnati! hi Houston!--and some disappointing performances by players you were counting on in fantasy. There were also surprises. Also, you lost David Johnson. You were likely getting ready to stand up and holler about how good the catch he'd... Read More
Top 10 Lineup Busts for Week 1
It's time! Football is here. You're setting your lineups and getting pumped up about your Week 1 matchups. You're looking over your lineup and thinking about how it has absolutely zero holes in it and you are going to be undefeated and all your starters are definitely must starts right now and always. I'm going... Read More
